Egypt: An Intensifying Problem With Islamist Militancy
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 13 January 2017 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 1 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Egypt: An Intensifying Problem With Islamist Militancy, 13 January 2017, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 1, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587cb1274.html [accessed 19 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
A suicide bomber blew himself up at a Cairo church close to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in December, killing at least 25 people, wounding scores more and putting Egypt's Coptic community on edge heading into their Christmas celebrations on January 7 (Ahram, January 6). The real target of Egypt's militants, however, is the state itself.
Following the December 11 attack, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has been publicly supportive of Egypt's Copts, announced three days of mourning and ordered the church to be renovated (which it was) in time for the holiday (al-Bawaba, December 12, 2016). Islamic State (IS), meanwhile, claimed responsibility for the attack and vowed to continue its "war against apostates" (Egypt Independent, December 14, 2016).
Egypt's Christians are an obvious target for Islamist militants — the church attack was the deadliest on Egypt's Christian community since a blast in Alexandria in 2011 that killed 23 worshipers — but the government's primary concern remains the political aspirations of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In the days following the blast, Egyptian security forces rounded up four of the attack's alleged plotters (Ahram, December 13, 2016). Egypt's interior ministry also named the mastermind of the attack as Mohab Mostafa el-Sayed Kassem, and in so doing raked over a long-running political dispute with Qatar, which has been at odds with Sisi over its backing for the Muslim Brotherhood administration of former-president Mohamed Morsi.
The interior ministry announced that Kassem, a militant known as "The Doctor" with links to IS' Egyptian affiliate Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM), had travelled to Qatar in 2015. It claimed that while there he met Brotherhood officials who encouraged him to join ABM and carry out attacks. Qatar reacted angrily, calling the accusations an attempt to "sully" its name and a "cover up" for the failures of the Egyptian security services (al-Bawaba, December 15, 2016). Egypt also received a reprimand from Qatar's Gulf allies (Khaleej Times, December 16, 2016).
There is truth on both sides, but Egypt's problems go beyond these established Brotherhood links. Militant attacks have intensified since the 2013 coup. ABM had been a relatively fringe group up until Sisi came to power. Little over a year later, ABM declared allegiance to IS as Wilayat Sinai and stepped up its campaign against the security force. Although based in Sinai, its operations can reach Cairo, as the church bombing and other attacks make clear.
More recently the Hasam movement, a relatively new group, mounted an assassination campaign against state and security officials. The group claimed the failed attempted assassination last year on Egypt’s former grand mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, an establishment figure (New Arab, August 5, 2016).
As 2017 gets under way, it will be the Egyptian establishment that comes under continued attack from violent Islamists.
